The Old Rectory at Flixton

A unique holiday experience in the
beautiful Waveney Valley

Our Environmental Responsibilities

We are committed as a business to minimise the
impact our cottages have on the environment in this beautiful area, which
means making some commitments and asking our visitors to take a few easy
steps with us to minimize our impact on the environment. Some of the ways
we are doing this are:-

Green Tourism Business Scheme

We are members of the Green Tourism Business Scheme which offers credible, trustworthy,
independent guidance to tourism businesses wishing to operate sustainably.
This means minimising energy waste and water resources used, as well
as celebrating positive aspects of our culture and ecology. It means
working constructively with the community and the supply chain through
positive social and ethical choices.

We first joined the GTBS in 2014 and we were delighted to achieve a Gold Award,
the highest grading, on our very first inspection. This is what the Inspector
said after his visit to Old Rectory cottages:-

“Located in a stunning rural Suffolk location, Old Rectory Cottages enter the
Green Tourism programme with a GOLD award on their first visit. Keith and
family have ensured that a number of good practice measures have been implemented
including A‐rated appliances, well insulated buildings, green cleaners, good
recycling practices and green laundry practices. Of particular note are the
excellent wildlife friendly areas on site including a pond with a stunning
view over the local area and an Orchard filled with Old Suffolk varieties.
Accessible information is also provided on the website to aid those less
able with two cottages suitable for wheelchair guests.”

The GTBS is now the main sustainable tourism certification scheme in the UK and
we were assessed against a rigorous set of environmental impact and sustainable
criteria. The Gold Award indicates that we are working in the right direction!
But we’re not resting on our laurels. We have a Green Business Improvement
Plan and there are many more things that we want to change to further reduce
the impact that our business has on the environment.

Recycling and Purchasing

We recycle paper, cardboard, tins, plastic and glass bottles,
batteries and silver foil and garden waste. Compost caddies are provided
in our cottages and there is access to compost bins. When building
we use recycled materials when possible. We provide shopping bags in
the cottages to avoid using disposable bags.

We have installed water butts and we use the recycled
rainwater for the garden and vegetable patch.

Enjoying Nature

Birds are encouraged with nest-boxes and bird baths and
year round feeding in the garden.

We continue to plant large amounts of native hedging and
trees to attract birds and other wildlife.

We also encourage other wildlife by creating dead wood
piles and using insect attractive plants.

We have created a large wildlife pond, which is lined
with naturally occurring puddled clay rather than a plastic liner.

Our fruit orchard which we began to plant in 2006 is being
managed in a traditional manner. We have planted a range of fruit trees
(apples, pears & plums) on half standard rootstocks which are being grown in unimproved grassland.
As the trees mature they will create ideal food sources and habitats
for other wildlife to use, such as mosses and lichens, fungi, and numerous
species of mammals, insects and birds.

We are beginning to develop an area of the field as a
wildflower area and in our field & orchard we try to follow a mowing programme that is sympathetic to plants & wildlife.

We try to minimise the use of chemicals in the garden.

We comply with the requirements of environmental legislation
and approved codes of practice and have minimised our risk associated
with environmental and social emissions.

We are happy to show guests around and talk about what
we’ve done and other nature conservation projects we are planning.

Keeping it Local – Saving Fuel Emissions

We shop locally for our meat and vegetables and buy as
much British food as possible, the menus we offer make use of fresh,
local, seasonal produce.

Homemade cakes, biscuits and marmalade in your welcome
pack are made by us As our trees mature, our menus include fruit harvested
from our trees.

We make it easy to minimise the use of the car during
your stay. There is plenty of information in each
cottage giving details of local attractions, activities and nearby
walks, as well as timetables for local buses

We promote local food suppliers to our guests and provide
a welcome basket for them to sample local produce.

Local workers are used for all building & maintenance
work to the cottages.

We involve ourselves in local community activities and
enterprises

Guest Participation

We hope that guests will support us in an effort to conserve
energy, by simply turning off lights that are not needed, ensuring
that the heating thermostat is not unnecessarily high, and we ask that
guests use water considerately.

We encourage guests to recycle and provide facilities
to recycle glass, cardboard, paper, tins and plastics.

We encourage guests to shop locally, to visit local pubs
and restaurants.

We provide bags for guests to use for shopping instead
of plastic bags.

We ask guests to follow our suggestions for the disposal
of various types of waste so that they cause minimum pollution

Please adopt the ‘countryside code’ when walking or cycling

We encourage guests to explore ways of enjoying your holiday
with minimum use of your car (and exploring public transport!).

We welcome guest’s comments and suggestions on how we
can improve on our environmental policy.